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Little Toy Bikers and a Woman on the Run

Chapter 185 Competition

Hale saw Jax last night on his bike as he was walking with Scarlett to her room. He thought he must be talking about this incident, but he wasn't sure.

"What about Scarlett?" Hale asked.

"How much has she told you about her past?"

"Not much," Hale replied. He was keeping his guard up.

"She has a psycho ex that isn't just stalking her; he wants to find, kidnap and torture her."

Hale shook his head. He had no idea that Scarlett was living with this kind of nightmare.

"I didn't know."

"We need to keep her name and picture out of this story."

"OK," Hale said.

He ran his hand over his chin as he thought about a story to keep Scarlett's identity secret. He didn't have a problem lying about how he got the information about Tristen. Scarlett deserved to be protected.

"I overheard a couple of carnival goers talking about seeing a clown taking a little girl into the woods. It sounded suspicious, so I decided to check it out."

"That's good. I'm going to say that after a ride on the roller coaster, a friend of the club came up to me and told me that a bunch of men were taking a little girl into the woods. One of the men had his hand over the girl's mouth to keep her from screaming."

"I like that. The information is a little wrong, which is exactly how it happens in real life," Hale said. "People embellish and get details wrong."

"I'll talk to Oswald about getting Tristen to keep Scarlett's identity secret."

"That should keep Scarlett safe."

"We also need to figure out a way to get Tristen out of here without being seen."

"Within ten minutes of my calling it in, there will be a flood of deputies and paramedics. We need to get her away quickly."

"Remember that old dirt road we used to ride our dirt bikes on?"

"Yeah."

When he was in junior high, he, Jax and Opie would ride dirt bikes on the dirt road that separated the developer's land that couldn't be developed from Oswald's land of pristine woods.

"I'll bring her out to the road and Oswald can pick her up from there."

"Is she going to be OK with you?"

"I know her a little. She's a smart kid. She knows we're the good guys and we hurt the bad men."

"If only it were that simple."

"Yeah," Jax said drily. "I'll get Oswald to bring Scarlett with him. She needs to be away from here when it gets crowded."

"Are you two still going to her friend's cabin this weekend?"

Hale wanted Jax to know that while he might not have known about Scarlett's psycho ex, he still knew some things about her. He watched with pleasure as surprise spread across Jax's face.

"We are."

"Good. That will help put some distance between her and this."

"I'm going to call Scarlett tell her what's happened and get her to find Oswald."

"I bet she's already found Oswald."

"You are probably right," Jax said. "She's a smart girl."

"Thanks for the back-up today and especially thanks for not killing anyone."

"Not killing anyone was the tricky part. Those pieces of shit don't deserve to live."

"I agree. I hope those bastards go away for the rest of their lives."

"I bet they all have priors and are violating their probation."

"And are convicted sex offenders," Hale added. "One last thing. About Scarlett."

"What about Scarlett?"

"She's going to be mine."

"May the better man win," Jax said.

Hale thought Jax sounded a little worried. Maybe he really did have a chance with the beautiful and charming Scarlett.

"It took a lot of discipline.